This webpage was updated on June 13, 2025

Updates from the June 10, 2025 Council Meeting


The June 10, 2025, Ocean Protection Council (OPC) meeting marked a major milestone in California’s effort to conserve 30 percent of coastal waters by 2030 (30×30), while advancing key goals across OPC’s Strategic Plan. Council actions supported stronger protections for marine biodiversity, deeper tribal partnership in sea level rise adaptation, enhanced enforcement of marine protected areas (MPAs), and increased community resilience in the face of climate change. Together, these decisions reflect OPC’s commitment to ecosystem health, equitable access to ocean benefits, and collaborative stewardship of California’s coast and ocean. 

The meeting agenda included two significant informational items:  

  • Federal Administration Activities on California’s Coastal and Marine Programs: Dr. Staci Lewis, OPC’s Marine Protected Area Network Manager, shared an analysis of recent federal actions and the potential impacts on the state’s ability to build climate resilience and protect California’s marine life, habitats, fisheries, and coastal communities and economies. Dr. Lewis noted that OPC staff will continue to track changes and impacts to key data sets, research, monitoring, and other programs that may be impacted. 
  • Draft 2026–2030 OPC Strategic Plan: Executive Director Jenn Eckerle presented a draft of the next OPC Strategic Plan, reflecting on OPC’s continued commitment to coast and ocean resilience, maximizing community benefits and stewardship, safeguarding biodiversity, and science-based decision-making in the years ahead. The draft plan is available for public comment through Friday, August 1, 2025 with a public webinar being held on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Visit the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan webpage for more information. 

During the meeting, the Council approved several key action items: 

  • 30×30 Roadmap for California’s Coastal Waters: Adoption of the Roadmap for Achieving 30×30 in California’s Coastal Waters, bringing the total area of coastal waters conserved to 21.9%. In addition to the 16.2% of coastal waters conserved by the state marine protected area network, the Roadmap includes additional area conserved by the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (5.7%) and University of California Natural Reserves (< 1%). In recognition of concerns raised by members of the public, the Council adopted the Roadmap with three important amendments: 1) strengthen language in the roadmap around equitable access, 2) return to the Council in September to share clear criteria for other coastal and marine designations not yet assessed for alignment with our state’s definition of a 30×30 Conservation Area,  and 3) return to the Council in a reasonable amount of time (6 months to 1 year) to report out on status of collaborative co-stewardship of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary and how the Sanctuary is working to conserve biodiversity.  
  • SB 1 Tribal Cultural Resources Funding Solicitation: Up to $5,000,000 for a Sea Level Rise (SLR) Tribal Cultural Resources Funding Program to support tribally-led SLR vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies to protect cultural resources. 
  • Marine Protected Area Enforcement and Compliance: Up to $5,081,000 for Marine Protected Area (MPA) Enforcement and Compliance through the following projects:
    • California Department of Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division: Up to $4,661,000 to increase the capabilities to enforce MPA regulations.
    • MPA Collaborative Network: Up to $420,000 to increase MPA compliance and to broaden the reach of MPA outreach into more diverse communities.  

Under the consent calendar, the Council approved the following: 

  • SB 1 Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Grant Program: Up to $3,035,032 to support local and regional sea level rise adaptation planning efforts across the state. 
    • San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District: Up to $750,000 for the “Brisbane Shoreline Resilience Plan”
    • Town of Tiburon: Up to $593,877 for the “Adaptation Plan and Vulnerability Assessment for Town of Tiburon” 
    • City of Hermosa Beach: Up to $590,000 for the “Hermosa Beach Vulnerability Assessment and SLR Adaptation Plan” 
    • City of Solana Beach: Up to $425,755 for the “Solana Beach Sea Level Rise Adaptation Project”
    • City of Ventura: Up to $675,400 for the “City of Ventura for the City of Ventura Sea Level Rise Community Co-Designed Adaptation Planning”
  • OPC General Grant Guidelines: Updated guidelines to streamline and clarify OPC’s grantmaking process, improving transparency and accessibility across all program areas. 

Chair Updates and Executive Director Report  

In his opening remarks, Chair Crowfoot announced that California’s MPA network was recently accepted to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green List—the first nature network in the world to receive this global honor, recognizing California’s MPAs as among the most successful examples of biodiversity conservation. Read the press release from the California Natural Resources Agency for more details about this global recognition. Chair Crowfoot also shared remarks on California Ocean Day, which was held in May, and celebrated 20 years of advocacy, action, and ocean leadership.  
 
During the Executive Director Report, Jenn Eckerle made several personnel announcements, welcoming Jikara Anderson as OPC’s newest staff member and OPC’s summer interns. Jikara joined OPC in April 2025 as an Administration and Finance Analyst. Five undergraduate interns will help advance OPC’s strategic priorities over the summer while gaining meaningful professional experience within state government. Kiani Baetsle (UC Berkeley), Paige Thionnet (UC Berkeley), Jacob Wagner (UC Santa Barbara/Ventura College), and Kate Robinson (UCLA) were selected for the fifth year of OPC’s ten-week paid summer internship program. Anne Larson will join OPC through a merit-based Environmental and Policy Internship (EPIC) from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the Haas Center for Public Service, the seventh year of an ongoing partnership between OPC and Stanford. Read the Executive Director’s Report for budget, legislative, and programmatic updates. 

View the full June agenda and associated documents on the meeting webpage. The recording is also available:     

Next Meeting

The next OPC Quarterly Public Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 30, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with both in-person and Zoom participation options available.

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Categories: Climate Change, Coastal Habitats, Equity and Environmental Justice, Funding Opportunities and Updates, Habitats, Leadership and Staff Updates, Marine Habitats, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia, OPC Meetings, Report Release, Sea Level Rise, Strategic Goal 1: Climate Change, Strategic Goal 2: Equity, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Strategic Goal 4: Sustainable Blue Economy, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems, Tribal Engagement, Water Quality